Weaver95:James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

On I don't think public opinion could get any lower. The GOP should just turn everything back on and pretend the shutdown never happened.

According to the survey, just 10% of Americans say they approve of the job Congress is doing, an all-time low in a CNN poll. And 87% say they disapprove of the job federal lawmakers are doing, higher than it's ever been in CNN polling.

SkinnyHead:I'm glad to see they are willing to talk. Here's my prediction. I think that Obama will agree to postpone the individual mandate for a year and eliminate Obamacare subsidies for congress, not because republicans demand it, but because it's the right thing to do. That will allow Reid to accept the CR and end his shutdown.

Please explain why members of Congress and their staffs should be the only people in the country who are prohibited by law from receiving employer contributions for their health insurance premiums?

James!:There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

This is exactly the mess they want. They want to bring the country to it's knees. Instead of dickering about who will blink and whatnot we should be asking ourselves what exactly the GOP intends to do once they have completely debilitated the country.

Carn:Weaver95: James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

On I don't think public opinion could get any lower. The GOP should just turn everything back on and pretend the shutdown never happened.

Well, there's very slight room for un-improvement.

According to the survey, just 10% of Americans say they approve of the job Congress is doing, an all-time low in a CNN poll. And 87% say they disapprove of the job federal lawmakers are doing, higher than it's ever been in CNN polling.

Are they upset with the GOP, or do they think it is 'the other side's fault'?

Weaver95:James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

On I don't think public opinion could get any lower. The GOP should just turn everything back on and pretend the shutdown never happened.

Most of them will be taken behind the woodshed after this is over and a handful won't be coming back. They made their last desperate attempt to stop the ACA and now it's consequences time.

quickdraw:James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

This is exactly the mess they want. They want to bring the country to it's knees. Instead of dickering about who will blink and whatnot we should be asking ourselves what exactly the GOP intends to do once they have completely debilitated the country.

And then we will know what we have to do to try to save it.

I think they wanted power. They have been angry at not having the White House ever since McCain lost. This is an effort to make the Democratic president look weak. They simply want power.

quickdraw:James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

This is exactly the mess they want. They want to bring the country to it's knees. Instead of dickering about who will blink and whatnot we should be asking ourselves what exactly the GOP intends to do once they have completely debilitated the country.

And then we will know what we have to do to try to save it.

This isn't a brains kind of operation. They aren't planning any further ahead than their noses.

James!:Weaver95: James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

On I don't think public opinion could get any lower. The GOP should just turn everything back on and pretend the shutdown never happened.

Most of them will be taken behind the woodshed after this is over and a handful won't be coming back. They made their last desperate attempt to stop the ACA and now it's consequences time.

I'd like to see that happen...I really would. But the tea baggers are stupid and on a suicide mission to take down the government. Not sure how this will play out.

Weaver95:But the tea baggers are stupid and on a suicide mission to take down the government. Not sure how this will play out.

Well, realistically what do you think the endgame for them is? Government shutdown for the rest of the Obama administration? How is that going to play in the mid-terms? Make no mistake, this is ALL about the mid-terms, though I have a sneaking suspicion they haven't thought their cunning plan all the way through.

Nadie_AZ:quickdraw: James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

This is exactly the mess they want. They want to bring the country to it's knees. Instead of dickering about who will blink and whatnot we should be asking ourselves what exactly the GOP intends to do once they have completely debilitated the country.

And then we will know what we have to do to try to save it.

I think they wanted power. They have been angry at not having the White House ever since McCain lost. This is an effort to make the Democratic president look weak. They simply want power.

I just think we have to listen to these people when they say they want dismantle the government and make us all adhere to their biblical interpretation of reproductive rights.

I mean - yeah - I laughed in the 80s when I heard this dominionist plot but Im not laughing anymore. These people are zealots and mean what they say. Shame on the networks too - they are totally complicit in this.

James!:There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

Seeing as how Obama agreed to postpone Obamacare penalties for big business for a year, its only fair that individual citizens -- the 99% -- should get the same consideration. And it is also fair to require members of congress to live with Obamacare like everyone else, without getting special subsidies from the taxpayers to ease the pain.

As for scrambling to save face, the article says that Obama is the one who summoned the congressional leaders to the table. That means he's got to put something on the table. I think he will decide to delay the individual mandate and end the subsidies on his own, in exchange for a clean CR.

nekom:Weaver95: But the tea baggers are stupid and on a suicide mission to take down the government. Not sure how this will play out.

Well, realistically what do you think the endgame for them is? Government shutdown for the rest of the Obama administration? How is that going to play in the mid-terms? Make no mistake, this is ALL about the mid-terms, though I have a sneaking suspicion they haven't thought their cunning plan all the way through.

At this point I honestly don't know what the tea bagger end game looks like. They're basing their plans off data that only exists in their closed echo chamber, they seem immune to logic and regard common sense as a creepy mutation. They hate Obama, and let that hatred color what we laughingly call their strategy.

They're a dangerous mob with little more than vague plans, lots of power and no concern for the consequences of their actions.

Nadie_AZ:Carn: Weaver95: James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

On I don't think public opinion could get any lower. The GOP should just turn everything back on and pretend the shutdown never happened.

Well, there's very slight room for un-improvement.

According to the survey, just 10% of Americans say they approve of the job Congress is doing, an all-time low in a CNN poll. And 87% say they disapprove of the job federal lawmakers are doing, higher than it's ever been in CNN polling.

Are they upset with the GOP, or do they think it is 'the other side's fault'?

Well they didn't ask in response to the Tea Party, I imagine because CNN abides by the BSAB school of journalism. However they asked generally how people felt about each party and Democrats it was 43%/52% Favorable/Unfavorable and for Republicans 32%/62%.

SkinnyHead:James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

Seeing as how Obama agreed to postpone Obamacare penalties for big business for a year, its only fair that individual citizens -- the 99% -- should get the same consideration. And it is also fair to require members of congress to live with Obamacare like everyone else, without getting special subsidies from the taxpayers to ease the pain.

As for scrambling to save face, the article says that Obama is the one who summoned the congressional leaders to the table. That means he's got to put something on the table. I think he will decide to delay the individual mandate and end the subsidies on his own, in exchange for a clean CR.

I appreciate that you have to completely misrepresent the Vitter Amendment in order to argue for it.

My guess, no. McConnell's people aren't thinking anything will come of it. Boehner's going to put another amended CR in play today. It's going to be Obama bringing out his pimp hand, but the GOP won't budge.

El_Perro:SkinnyHead: I'm glad to see they are willing to talk. Here's my prediction. I think that Obama will agree to postpone the individual mandate for a year and eliminate Obamacare subsidies for congress, not because republicans demand it, but because it's the right thing to do. That will allow Reid to accept the CR and end his shutdown.

Please explain why members of Congress and their staffs should be the only people in the country who are prohibited by law from receiving employer contributions for their health insurance premiums?

The Democrat Congress forced ordinary people to get their health insurance from these exchanges. It's only fair that members of congress should have to eat the same slop that they are forcing ordinary people to eat. If they are getting special subsidies from the taxpayers to pay for it, then they are not really experiencing the same suffering that they are inflicting on others, are they?

Seeing as how Obama agreed to postpone Obamacare penalties for big business for a year, its only fair that individual citizens -- the 99% -- should get the same consideration. And it is also fair to require members of congress to live with Obamacare like everyone else, without getting special subsidies from the taxpayers to ease the pain.

As for scrambling to save face, the article says that Obama is the one who summoned the congressional leaders to the table. That means he's got to put something on the table. I think he will decide to delay the individual mandate and end the subsidies on his own, in exchange for a clean CR.

It's nice to see you posting predictions along these lines. You truly are an amazing bell-weather for being wrong. So, we can probably expect the opposite of this to happen.

SkinnyHead:The Democrat Congress forced ordinary people to get their health insurance from these exchanges. It's only fair that members of congress should have to eat the same slop that they are forcing ordinary people to eat. If they are getting special subsidies from the taxpayers to pay for it, then they are not really experiencing the same suffering that they are inflicting on others, are they?

I'd wager that if that's all it took, they'd have a deal. The GOP is right about one thing: Good or bad, this IS their FINAL chance to stop the ACA. I don't think it's going to happen, but if they don't stop it now, they're never going to.

SkinnyHead:James!: There is no reason to delay the mandate and there is no reason to screw over congressional staffers with the Vitter Amendment. The republicans should be scrambling around to find a way to save face and get out of this mess.

Seeing as how Obama agreed to postpone Obamacare penalties for big business for a year, its only fair that individual citizens -- the 99% -- should get the same consideration. And it is also fair to require members of congress to live with Obamacare like everyone else, without getting special subsidies from the taxpayers to ease the pain.

As for scrambling to save face, the article says that Obama is the one who summoned the congressional leaders to the table. That means he's got to put something on the table. I think he will decide to delay the individual mandate and end the subsidies on his own, in exchange for a clean CR.

And I think you're high as a kite. Thats the only way any of that garbage makes sense.

Bontesla:DamnYankees: Bontesla: Reid has indicated that he's open to talking about tax reform.

Before the clean CR is passed? Cite?

thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/326137-reid-offers-to-t a lk-tax-reform-if-gop-funds-government#ixzz2gaWnfVsk

That's not Reid giving up anything. He's saying that if the House passes a clean CR, then he'll appoint conferees - that's something the Democrats have been begging the GOP to do for 6 months! Reid isn't budging at all.

Step 1: Obama invites congressional leadership to white houseStep 2: Obama isn't there, but secret service isStep 3: Have secret service lock them in room without food or drinkStep 4: Obama goes to Asia as plannedStep 5: Obama returns 2 weeks later to either a reopened government, or 4 dead former congressional leaders

"The longer this goes on the longer it will take to restore things to normalcy, the more your constituents will suffer, and the angrier they will become with you. Let me assure you, gentlemen, your districts will be the very last to have their funding restored."